Do the cops have to read me my Miranda Rights in Maryland after a DUI stop?

This is a common question that we get at Bruce Robinson and Associates, Maryland’s DUI Law Firm. Lawyer T.V. shows tend to portray lawyers as having a glamorous job they misrepresent a few things about lawyers and the law. It works the same way with medical dramas. After a few episodes of E.R. I feel like I can diagnose any disease.

Often people have assumptions about the law because they saw something on T.V. Most people who haven’t been living under a rock believe that the police have a legal obligation to read you your rights during an arrest. This can be correct depending on the type of case but it is also misleading. The origination of these rights stems from a landmark criminal case known as Miranda v. Arizona which involved kidnapping and armed robbery, among other crimes perpetuated by a laborer that was in and out of trouble his whole life. It had to do with a coerced confession without counsel- of defendant Ernesto Miranda.

If you are facing a DUI charge, choosing the right attorney to handle your case is a very important decision. Who you choose to hire as your legal representation could actually make or break your case when it comes to the final result. To help you choose a DUI lawyer (Rhode Island) that will be competent and confidently assist you with your case, we’ve put together a few tips you should keep in mind.

Some interesting things to note following a DUI in Maryland which has resulted in a car accident and a trip to the hospital where medical malpractice becomes a real concern. Thankfully the great majority of DUIs in Maryland and elsewhere originate from simple traffic infractions like swerving or speeding; some are innocuous as a burnt tail light. There are a few DUIs however that result from a car accident where people are injured and must seek treatment at the hospital. This is where things begin to get hairy because if you were not terribly hurt before going to the hospital, you certainly risk life and limb at the hospital as a result of infection decease and negligence medical care which occurs at the hospital.

Research the instances of medical malpractice, MERSA or other deceases that are contracted at the hospital and it is enough to scare you into not going. Not suggesting of course that proper medical attention should not be sought as a result of injury, just pointing out the problems that can result therefrom for the uninitiated.

According to NPR, there are roughly 440,000 deaths per year from preventable medical malpractice. This of course is a scary concept when folks go the hospital to heal and recover- not to be made needlessly worse. Among the medical mistakes that medical providers make annually are simple things that can hurt you as a result of rooms, beds, surfaces not being properly cleaned. Obviously hospitals are germ factories from all the various germs and sicknesses that reside there. It is extremely important that medical staff clean all surfaces and areas as thoroughly as possible but unfortunately this does not always happen A good case of the skin decease MERSA will stay with you for a very long time after leaving a hospital. Generally speaking, contracting a case of MERSA at the hospital is not actionable medical malpractice as it is perceived to be a complication from being in the hospital. Thus, touch as few surfaces as possible, make sure medical providers wash their hands before touching you and try to make sure surfaces are clean before sitting or lying down on them.

Driving after having a few drinks on a night out is never a good idea, and the DUI penalties in Maryland that were once considered potentially lax compared to surrounding states will now be made to be far more severe for those finding themselves in this unenviable position, especially if there was a car accident. By way of background for the new law:

On December 3rd, 2015 Montgomery County officer, Noah Leotta, was fatally struck by a drunk driver. Leotta was returning to his car after conducting a stop on another vehicle when Luis Gustavo Reluzco, 47, was driving and hit both the police cruiser and officer Leotta. The result of this young officer’s death lead to the Maryland State Senate’s unanimous passing of ‘Noah’s Law’ in March of 2016 and will go into effect this Saturday October 1st, 2016. The DR-15 (Advice of Rights) which the officer must read to you prior to requesting you to blow in the machine at the police station has changed accordingly and become far more severe than it has ever been regarding the MVA consequences to your driver’s license.

The new law addresses test failures (ie. a blow of .08 or more) and alcohol test refusals before court and the effect of a DUI conviction on your driver’s license after court. Noah’s law lowers the blood alcohol level at which ignition interlocks are permitted and encouraged to be installed from 0.15 to 0.08. More specifically, you can either install an interlock for 6 months or you will be suspended for 180 days for a first offense .08 case; this is an increase from the standard 45 day suspension. Noah’s law will also essentially require an interlock for individuals who have refused a breath test, not just those who have been convicted of driving under the influence. Again, if you do not take the interlock for a period of 1 year following a refusal to blow, your license will be suspended for 9 months. Thus, it does not make much sense to go without a license for 9 months or 270 days when you install the lock for a period of 12 months and be on your way. As you can see in the convenient chart below, the new law will significantly increase mandatory suspension periods for those who choose not to install the interlock device. The state is sending a very strong message that if there is any alcohol or DUI infraction along these lines, an interlock is all but mandatory if you need to drive.

Once the law goes into effect on Saturday, the new legal consequences will give Maryland the push to join the other 27 U.S. states that currently require interlock devices for persons convicted of drunk driving. The sanction of ignition interlocks for those convicted of DUI has reported to yield the lifesaving results of not only a 67% drop in DUI recidivism, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control, but also a reduction in alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities mostly in part to laws mandating interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers; NHTSA data.

The 4th Amendment to the United State’s Constitution protects all citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures, that includes one’s home, car and automobile. An officer may however stop a vehicle if they believe they have reasonable articulable suspicion that a crime is being committed, ie. Speeding or Drunk Driving. A traffic stop is generally a “warrantless” stop meaning that the officer must meet the criteria of “reasonable articulable suspicion” before pulling over a motorist an impeding on their 4th Amendment right to be free of police stops.

This is a very significant issue that may have a bearing on your dui or non-dui arrest. A seasoned attorney will be well versed in whether a traffic stop passes Constitutional evaluation or fails and therefore should be thrown out. This is why it remains imperative to retain effective counsel in all cases.

Just this week during trial I was able to secure a Not Guilty on a very significant DUI because of a bad stop. It was raining and my client was driving on the beltway at a speed that was 5 miles per hour less than the speed limit. It was late at night so it was obvious that the officer thought my client was impaired. However outside of the slow speed my client committed no traffic violations. An officer can pull someone over for going to slow but they must prove that the drivers speed impeded traffic or wasn’t reasonable given the road condition. The officer while on the stand during trial said that he pulled my client over for a well being check. He said he wanted to make sure my client was ok. When asked why he pulled him over for that and not a traffic violation the officer said he didn’t think he had enough evidence to pull over for a traffic violation.

Reasons why a multiple DUI offender should hire the best DUI attorney they can.

Hint: All DUI lawyers are not created equal.

Most multiple DUI offenders believe that the judge is going to throw the book at them no matter what they do in preparation for their DUI trial. That is to say, they know things do not look good and many presume nothing can be done to fix or mitigate the situation. This is not true and is fatalistic to your case. Yes, judges are not looking to give a defendant with multiple prior DUIs a break, but with aggressive and knowledgeable defense counsel, sometimes things can work out far better then expected.

Will you be considered a first offender in Maryland if it has been 10 years since your prior DUI conviction or PBJ? Well, it is much like your virginity, once you lose it-you lost it!

What do I mean by that? Once you have received a DUI or DWI and received some form of probation or guilty verdict, that can never be undone and you will never be considered a “first offender” again; in point of fact, you are not a first offender, you will be a second offender, even 10+ years later. Now, if you go to court on your first offense and you are found Not Guilty by the judge or jury, well then that is NOT a first offense because you were not found guilty and you did not receive a probation before judgment. A not guilty means you were not guilty of the charge and is therefore not considered a first offense. In this instance, a “second violation” irrespective of when it occurs (1 year or 5 years) is indeed a first offense (because you beat the earlier offense) and you are entitled to first offense status. Ie. eligible for a PBJ.

Now, what is this business about 10 years? That time period is the new limit in which a “second offender” is not even legally eligible for a probationary disposition such as a PBJ. Therefore, if in your first DUI offense you received the benefit of probation before judgment and therefore were able to keep your record clean and void of any points, that would mean you are not even eligible for a PBJ within 10 years of receiving your first PBJ. You can however retain the best lawyer you can find and fight your case in court and try to obtain a not guilty in the second offense.

Zero Tolerance for DUI in Maryland: .08 breath alcohol is NOT the limit

A common misconception is that the legal alcohol limit for a DUI in Maryland is a .08 BAC. Most people believe that if you blow below a .08 then you are home free. Maryland is actually a zero tolerance state. This means that any amount of alcohol in your system can and will trigger DUI and DWI charges. Unfortunately, Maryland continues to broadcast this misinformation to the public and our clients continue to be amazed when we explain a .03-.05 is enough, under certain circumstances, to result in a driving while impaired charge.

This misconception has been an issue for years. Maryland, along with most states continues to run campaigns saying .08 is the limit, however it isn’t. A lower BAC number is just as damming as a .08. The only difference is that if you did spectacularly on the field sobriety tests you can attack the notion of impairment unlike a .08. .08 is Per Se impairment, this means that the defense cannot argue (or will be completely ineffective if they do) that the driver was not impaired by the .08. At a .07 the presumption is that the driver is impaired. The defense will have to overcome this presumption through evidence and through testimony.

Understand the Strict Law that applies to lawfully “sleeping it off” and avoiding a DUI in Maryland

Have you ever made the intelligent decision after leaving a bar or a friends place that you may have had too many drinks to drive safely? What to do next? The intelligent thought would be to find a place to park and sleep it off.

However, despite the good thinking, from a legal perspective you must be careful. Maryland law is unfortunately strict about what counts as legally “sleeping it off” v. what counts as “physical control” and thereby exposing you to a DUI/DWI. The controlling case in Maryland speaking to the shelter doctrine is Atkinson. The Court in Atkinson determined they did not desire to punish a Maryland driver who knew he should not be driving and made the safe choice to sleep it off.

The new State’s Attorneys regime in Carroll County is acting with little respect towards the legal process and the bench, at present, is letting them get away with it. We were in Court for trial last week for what was a rather innocuous DUI case. We were there to try the case as there were several triable issues. When I approached the prosecutor she made an offer on the case. I told her it is a trial and to let me know when her officers arrive. The prosecutor agreed and we all waited.

Later on the prosecutor approached me and offered the lower DWI count as a plea deal. I asked her why she was doing that; she said her officer is unavailable. She then said that if we do not take her offer that she will just drop the charges and re-file. I told her to do what she needs to do but that she is setting a dangerous precedent by handling the case this way.

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Client Testimonials

"I never really trusted the police until my arresting officer told me to hire you to defend my DUI. Good advice!"
-Client, Anne Arundel County

"...The state's case had holes in it and Mr. Robinson drove a truck through them."
-Judge, Baltimore County District Court

"Sir, you blew a .25 and struck another car going the wrong way on a one way street, I assure you the only reason you are getting a PBJ is because of your lawyer."
-Judge, Circuit Court Baltimore City.

"I don't know what kind of magic Mr. Robinson performed here..."
-Judge, Howard County District Court

"I don't normally do this in a case with a number as high as yours but I'm going to give you unsupervised probation, you can thank your lawyer."
-Judge Baltimore County District Court

"Your lawyer is a rock star [following dismissal of all charges]"
-Prosecutor Anne Arundel County

"Oh, I didn't see that defect, I will drop all charges against your client"
-Prosecutor Baltimore County

"I have met with the best DUI defense lawyers in Maryland, I choose you to defend my case"
-Former prosecutor charged with DUI [Found NOT guilty at trial].

"Mr. Robinson did an excellent job a knocking your charges down"
-Judge Howard County District Court

I don't normally read or write testimonials, but after my case, I am compelled to write one for you. Second DUI offense, blew .09, at fault accident which was witnessed by a state trooper. You talk me into turning down the state offer in order to try the case. Not Guilty! Thanks Bruce
-- Montgomery County

You are unreal. My third DUI offense, without you, I get a year in jail. My fourth DUI, with you, no jail time. I know I promised never again but then my fifth offense. After an accident and a .23 blood test at the hospital- and a three day jury trial, not guilty on the DUI and the negligent driving. Bruce, anybody that fails to hire you as their lawyer for a DUI charge is either drunk or stupid. Simple as that. Thanks for fighting so hard for me!
-- Carroll County

Dear Bruce:
You are simply the best damn lawyer I know! I am not proud to be stopped weaving between lanes with a strong odor of alcohol on my breath and caught on police video. I am not proud to have been drinking all evening and have a citizen call in a driving complaint. I am however proud to have you as my lawyer. All alcohol charges dismissed.
--
Howard County